In Kanawha Forest Coalition, et al. v. Keystone WV, 2:22-cv-00367, 2023 WL 6466210 (S.D. W.V. Oct. 4, 2023), the Honorable Joseph R. Goodwin of the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, Charleston Division granted summary judgment against the operator of three defunct surface mines for past violations of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) and Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (“SMCRA”) but granted summary judgment in favor of the operator with regard to claims of ongoing permit violations, finding that the Plaintiffs’ theories constituted a collateral attack on validly-issued permits.  Read More »

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On September 14, 2023, in Conservation Law Foundation v. Academy Bus, a Massachusetts District Court held that the members of the Conservation Law Foundation (the “Foundation”) lacked standing to challenge the idling of buses under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”).  Conservation Law Found. v. Acad. Express, LLC., No. 20-10032-WGY, 2023 WL 5984517, at *1 (D. Mass. Sept. 14, 2023). Specifically, the court held that simply breathing in polluted air, without any concrete injury that is fairly traceable to the defendant, is not sufficient to prove an actual injury under the CAA. Read More »

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